What Are the Main Components of Attitudes? typically, researchers have assumed that attitudes three components: cognition, affect, and behavior Let's look at each. The statement "My pad is slow" is the cognitive component of an attitude a description of or belief in the way things are. It sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is reflected in the statement "I am angry over how little I'm paid ." Finally, affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. the behavioral component of an attitude describes an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something to continue the example. "I'm going to look for another job that pays better."
Viewing attitudes as having three components cognition, affect and behavior is helping in understanding their complexity and the potential relationship between attitudes and behavior. Keep in mind that these components are closely related, and cognition and affect in particular are inseparable in many ways. For example, imagine you concluded that someone had just treated you unfairly. Aren't you likely to have feelings about that, occurring virtually instantaneously with the thought? Thus, cognition and affect are intertwined.